“Did you hear what I said， Gwendolen？” asked Miss Prizzle. “But please， Miss Prizzle，” said Gwendolen， “there’s a LION！”
“Take two order-marks for talking nonsense，” said Miss Prizzle. “And now-” A roar interrupted her. Ivy came curling in at the windows of the classroom. The walls became a mass of shimmering green， and leafy branches arched overhead where the ceiling had been. Miss Prizzle found she was standing on grass in a forest glade. She clutched at her desk to steady herself， and found that the desk was a rose-bush. Wild people such as she had never even imagined were crowding round her. Then she saw the Lion， screamed and fled， and with her fled her class， who were mostly dumpy， prim little girls with fat legs. Gwendolen hesitated.
“You‘ll stay with us， sweetheart？” said Aslan.
“Oh， may I？ Thank you， thank you，” said Gwendolen. Instantly she joined hands with two of the Maenads， who whirled her round in a merry dance and helped her take off some of the unnecessary and uncomfortable clothes that she was wearing.
Wherever they went in the little town of Beruna it was the same. Most of the people fled， a few joined them. When they left the town they were a larger and a merrier company.
They swept on across the level fields on the north bank， or left bank， of the river. At every farm animals came out to join them. Sad old donkeys who had never known joy grew suddenly young again； chained dogs broke their chains； horses kicked their carts to pieces and came trotting along with them-clop-clop-kicking up the mud and whinnying.
At a well in a yard they met a man who was beating a boy. The stick burst into flower in the man’s hand. He tried to drop it， but it stuck to his hand. His arm became a branch， his body the trunk of a tree， his feet took root. The boy， who had been crying a moment before， burst out laughing and joined them.
At a little town halfway to Beaversdam， where two rivers met， they came to another school， where a tired-looking girl was teaching arithmetic to a number of boys who looked very like pigs. She looked out of the window and saw the divine revellers singing up the street and a stab of joy went through her heart. Aslan stopped right under the window and looked up at her.
“Oh， don‘t， don’t，” she said. “I‘d love to. But I mustn’t. I must stick to my work. And the children would be frightened if they saw you.”
“Frightened？” said the most pig-like of the boys. “Who‘s she talking to out of the window？ Let’s tell the inspector she talks to people out of the window when she ought to be teaching us.”
“Let‘s go and see who it is，” said another boy， and they all came crowding to the window. But as soon as their mean little faces looked out， Bacchus gave a great cry of Euan， euoi-oi-oi-oi and the boys all began howling with fright and trampling one another down to get out of the door and jumping out of the windows. And it was saidafterwards （whether truly or not） that those particular little boys were never seen again， but that there were a lot of very fine little pigs in that part of the country which had never been there before.
“Now， Dear Heart，” said Aslan to the Mistress， and she jumped down and joined them.
At Beaversdam they re-crossed the river and came east again along the southern bank. They came to a little cottage where a child stood in the doorway crying.
“Why are you crying， my love？” asked Aslan. The child， who had never seen a picture of a lion， was not afraid of him.
“Auntie’s very ill，” she said. “She‘s going to die.”
Then Aslan went to go in at the door of the cottage， but it was too small for him. So， when he had got his head through， he pushed with his shoulders （Lucy and Susan fell off when he did this） and lifted the whole house up and it fell backwards and apart. And there， still in her bed， though the bed was now in the open air， lay a little old woman who looked as if she had Dwarf blood in her. She was at death’s door， but when she opened her eyes and saw the bright， hairy head of the lion staring into her face， she did not scream or faint. She said， “Oh， Aslan！ I knew it was true. I‘ve been waiting for this all my life. Have you come to take me away？”
“Yes， Dearest，” said Aslan. “But not the long journey yet.” And as he spoke， like the flush creeping along the underside of a cloud at sunrise， the colour came back to her white face and her eyes grew bright and she sat up and said， “Why， I do declare I feel that better. I think I could take a little breakfast this morning.”
“Here you are， mother，” said Bacchus， dipping a pitcher in the cottage well and handing it to her. But what was in it now was not water but the richest wine， red as redcurrant jelly， smooth as oil， strong as beef， warming as tea， cool as dew.
“Eh， you’ve done something to our well，” said the old woman. “That makes a nice change， that does.” And she jumped out of bed.
“Ride on me，” said Aslan， and added to Susan and Lucy， “You two queens will have to run now.”
“But we‘d like that just as well，” said Susan. And off they went again. And so at last， with leaping and dancing and singing， with music and laughter and roaring and barking and neighing， they all came to the place where Miraz’s army stood flinging down their swords and holding up their hands， and Peter‘s army， still holding their weapons and breathing hard， stood round them with stern and glad faces. And the first thing that happened was that the old woman slipped off Aslan’s back and ran across to Caspian and they embraced oneanother； for she was his old nurse.
中文阅读
还不到两点钟，特伦普金、獾以及全体战士都已在树林边上就座。对面几十米开外，整整齐齐地坐着铠甲鲜明的米拉兹的军队。两军之间，有一块四四方方的平整草地，四周立了桩子，用绳子圈了起来，作为决斗场地。在场地远处那一边的两个角上站着戈洛赛尔和索匹斯卞，手里握着宝剑。在近处这边的两个角上，站着巨人维姆布威若和大胖熊。不顾大家的一再告诫，它又在那里舔熊掌。说实话，它看上去非常傻气。作为补偿，葛冷斯托姆站在场地右边的中间，除了一只蹄子偶尔在草皮上踢踏一下，半人马基本上一动不动，比对面站立的提尔玛男爵可威严多了。彼得跟埃德蒙和博士握了握手，便迈开步伐向决斗场走去。这很像一场大赛时，起跑枪即将打响的那一刻，甚至比那还要紧张。
“我希望，还没到这个地步之前，阿斯兰就出现了。”特伦普金喃喃自语道。
“我也这样希望，”特路弗汉特说，“可是回头看看后边。”“乌鸦和陶器！”矮人刚一回头，就嘟囔道，“他们是什么人？体形高大--好美呀--就像是些神祇、仙女和巨人。他们成千上万，从四面八方围拢过来。他们到底是什么人？”
“他们是树精、树仙子和井中仙女，”特路弗汉特回答说，“阿斯兰把他们给唤醒了。”
“哼！”矮人说，“如果敌人耍什么鬼把戏，这就不怕他们了。可是在决斗中，如果米拉兹的剑法更加纯熟，他们也帮不上大帝的忙。”
獾没有作声，因为此刻彼得和米拉兹正迎着对方，从两端进入比赛场地。两个人全都顶盔贯甲，手持盾牌。他们走到跟前，互相鞠了个躬，似乎还说了几句话，由于离得远，听不见他们说了些什么。随即，两人拔剑在手，只见剑锋在阳光下闪闪发光，接着他们就打在了一起。一开始还可以听到两把剑撞击的铿锵声，但很快剑声就被双方军队的呐喊声所淹没，人们像观看足球赛的球迷一般狂热。
